Clippers point guard James Harden recently sat down for an in-depth interview with Shams Charania of ESPN. The conversation covered a number of topics, including Paul George leaving for Philadelphia in free agency, Harden’s relationship with Kawhi Leonard, his on- and off-court role as a veteran leader, and his excitement for playing in the new Intuit Dome in Inglewood, among others.
While the former league MVP acknowledges the Clips have a slimmer margin for error in 2024/25, particularly with Leonard sidelined with a knee injury, he says not worried about having an expanded offensive workload at 35 years old.
“I mean, first of all, I’m going to have a lot more opportunity, which is easy,” Harden said. “I’m a natural scorer. I’m a natural playmaker. So the last four years it was sacrifice and whatever, but not even just scoring and playmaking, but leadership and finding other ways to win games is very important. That’s all that matters to this point.
“The numbers and things like that are going to happen, just because my usage rate is going to be high, I’ll be playing a lot. You got a high usage rate, the numbers are going to show, but it’s about actual details and being impactful obviously for the game and then for your teammates as well. So I feel like I get an opportunity at the highest level to show my teammates that I can be a leader in that aspect.”
Here’s more on the Clippers:
- Harden had mixed results in his first game of the ’24/25 season. He recorded 29 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists on Wednesday in L.A.’s overtime loss to Phoenix, but he attempted 28 shots and committed eight turnovers. “I’m so disappointed that we didn’t get the win,” Harden said, per Joe Vardon of The Athletic. “That’s probably one of the most frustrating things I can think about, as far as tonight, just history in Inglewood, in Intuit Dome. The fans came out and showed out, but we just, we got the short end of the stick.” Head coach Tyronn Lue said the Clippers are asking a lot of Harden until Leonard returns. “We need him to be special until Kawhi gets back,” Lue said.
- “The Wall” — a steep section of fans behind the basket near the opposing team’s bench — made an impact in the fourth quarter last night, writes Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN. Suns star Kevin Durant, who has converted 88.4% of his career free throws, missed two straight attempts in the fourth, while Devin Booker (87.0% career) made one-of-two. Both players were impressed by the section. “I think I experienced that [once before],” Durant said. “Oklahoma State has somewhat of an arena like that, obviously not that big. But to see something go straight up, and I always thought that was cool. The noise sounds a little different. It’s going to be a tough road environment for anyone who comes in here.”
- Former Knicks and Rockets head coach Jeff Van Gundy was hired in the offseason to be Lue’s top assistant. Van Gundy, 62, has been tasked with leading the Clippers’ defense, according to Law Murray of The Athletic. “He’ll be the guy, make sure we set the tone, make sure we’re talking defensively,” Lue said of Van Gundy. “And we got to be a loud talk team. We got to talk our coverages, understanding what we’re doing. And JVG’s done a great job of setting the tone early on.”